Pre-16 education budget reductions 2024 to 2025 and grant amalgamation: children’s rights impact assessment

What decision are you impact assessing?

A decision to reduce pre-16 education funding by £13.9m, 2.1% of pre-16 education budgets; and a decision to amalgamate grants to local authorities in relation to pre-16 education funding.

What existing research and data on children and young people is available to inform your specific policy? 

Your policy objective may impact on other policy areas, discussions with other policy teams will be an important part of the impact assessment process ensuring you have gathered a range of information and evidence.

• Using this research, how do you anticipate your policy will affect different groups^{[Footnote 1]} of children and young people, both positively and negatively? Please remember policies focused on adults can impact children and young people too.
• What participatory work with children and young people have you used to   inform your policy? If you have not engaged with children and young people, please explain why.^{[Footnote 2]}

Core funding for school budgets is provided through the Local Government Settlement. In the 2024 to 2025 draft budget process, we have acted to protect the Local Government Settlement at the indicative level set out in the previous budget setting process. This will allow a level of protection for local authorities to prioritise school funding.

However, given the scale of the pressures we are facing, it has not been possible to avoid impacts on children and young people. We have acted to minimise these impacts as far as possible within the funding available.  This is why we have ensured the same level of funding as in 2023 to 2024 for grants which we provide local authorities to further support schools. The reduction of £13.9m has been made against funding outside of that which is directed at supporting schools.

The grant amalgamation will see a change in funding mechanism whilst the levels of that funding have been maintained. 

Negative impacts of budget reductions have been mitigated by protecting core school funding and protecting grant funding which further supports children and young people, therefore engagement is not felt necessary in relation to the outcomes of this decision.

Engagement with children and young people was not felt appropriate in relation to the decision to amalgamate the pre-16 education grants. Evidence from reviews undertaken and commissioned, including the School Funding Review recommendations, has informed this decision. There is clear evidence that simplified and transparent school funding is necessary in Wales and this new grant approach is a step towards this.

Using the evidence you have gathered, what impact is your policy likely to have on children and young people? What steps will you take to mitigate and/or reduce any negative effects?

How does your proposal enhance or challenge children’s rights, as stipulated by the UNCRC articles and its Optional Protocols? Please refer to the articles to see which ones apply to your own policy.

UNCRC Articles or optional protocol

Article 3 (best interests of the child)

The best interests of the child must be a top priority in all decisions and actions that affect children.

The challenging financial circumstances arising from the cost-of-living crisis has caused a level of financial instability in schools and local authorities which could impact on our learners.  Providing protection to the funding which is focussed on supporting our schools will help enable local authorities to continue to deliver and ensure children can continue their learning.

Article 28 (right to education

Every child has the right to an education. Primary education must be free and different forms of secondary education must be available to every child. Discipline in schools must respect children’s dignity and their rights. Richer countries must help poorer countries achieve this.

Children and young people have a right to an education and statutory duty ensures this is provided. Protecting school funding ensures that this duty can be fulfilled.

Consider whether any EU Citizens Rights (as referenced in the Equality Impact Assessment) relate to young people up to the age of 18.

Not applicable.

How will your analysis of these impacts inform your ministerial advice?

• Once completed, your CRIA must be signed off by your Deputy Director.
• Your CRIA findings should be integrated into your ministerial advice to inform their decision.

Analysis of the impacts has informed the decision making process, this is why we are protecting school funding when applying necessary budgetary cuts as part of the 2024 to 2025 draft budget process.

This impact assessment will be included in the Ministerial advice submitted.

Following the ministerial decision, the CRIA should be published on the Welsh Government website. 

Send sections 1 and 8 of your IIA and the CRIA (Annex A) to your departmental web manager for publishing.

 All completed CRIAs must also be sent to the CRIA@gov.wales mailbox.

If you have sought children and young people’s views on your proposal, how will you inform them of the outcome?

Not applicable.

It is essential to revisit your CRIAs to identify whether the impacts that you originally identified came to fruition, and whether there were any unintended consequences. 

Where you are taking forward secondary legislation, it will not be sufficient to rely on the CRIA for the primary legislation; you will need to update the CRIA to consider how the details of the proposals in the regulations or guidance may affect children. 

The policy lead can revisit the published version of their CRIA, rename it as a review of the original CRIA, and update the evidence of impact. The reviewed impact assessment should be presented to Ministers with any proposals to amend the policy, practice or guidance. This review CRIA should also be published.

Please outline what monitoring and review mechanism you will put in place to review this CRIA. 

Will be monitored to review impact during the next financial year as the changes are implemented.

Following this review, are there any revisions required to the policy or its implementation?

Not after this initial review.

[1]) You may, for instance, consider how your policy would affect the following groups of children and young people differently:

• early years
• primary
• secondary
• young adults
• children with additional learning needs
• disabled children
• children living in poverty
• Black, Asian and minority ethnic children
• Gypsies, Roma and Travellers
• migrants
• asylum seekers
• refugees
• Welsh-language speakers
• care experienced children
• LGBTQ+ children

Please note that this is a non-exhaustive list and within these cohorts there will not be one homogenous experience. 

[2] Article 12 of the UNCRC stipulates that children have a right to express their views, particularly when adults are making decisions that affect them, and to have their opinions taken into account.